1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention relates to water softeners and more especially to sodium alumino silicate water softeners.
2. Description of Prior Art
The detersive effect of even the best surfactants in detergents is severely decreased by the presence of calcium ions. Hard water has very little soil removing power. Therefore, it has been established that good cleaning of cottons by the usual organic surfactants including soap, can only be achieved if the calcium and magnesium ions of the system have been reduced to an insignificant level. To do this, various water softeners have been added to the detergents to sequester the calcium and magnesium ions. Examples of such water softeners have been phosphates and carbonates.
Phosphates and carbonates are good water softeners but, for ecological reasons, they have become undesirable additives in a detergent. Therefore, sodium alumino silicate has been recently used as a water softener. A sodium alumino silicate is added to a slurry of the detergent, which is then spray dried into bead form.
Some manufacturers do not use spray drying operations in forming the detergent. These manufacturers obtain a particular particle size and a particular density by blending, so that there will be no fractionation by later handling. This process works well with phosphates, but it does not work well with sodium alumino silicates. The problem has existed of how to get the sodium alumino silicate into the detergent so it will not separate upon handling for those who do not use the spray drying process.